Our church has always been passionate about helping people on their journey towards wholeness.
We want people to have life-transforming experiences that help them know more of God’s love and enable them to live life to the full, in healthy relationship with God and with one another.
As part of this vision we provide Sozo appointments and are affiliated with Bethel Sozo UK.
WHAT IS SOZO?
“Sozo” is a Greek word that means saved, healed, delivered and it is used over a hundred times in the New Testament.
The Bethel Sozo ministry is a unique, gentle inner healing ministry, led by the Holy Spirit. It aims to quickly get to and deal with the root of things that are hindering your connection with Father God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
“I knew there were some deep roots of self protection that were hindering relationships and making me prickly when I felt vulnerable. I wanted help to deal with the source of that and since my Sozo I have indeed felt more free to run to Father God for protection and I’m more aware of when I feel threatened. It’s been a really good process again and helped deal with stuff I didn’t feel able to do on my own as it had actually stemmed back to being in the womb and deep feelings of not being safe.
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We recently caught up with one of the Sozo team members, who shared about her journey of being trained for this style of prayer:
The long and short of it is…I needed to be convinced about Sozo ministry and joining the Sozo Team!
Realising I had some unresolved anger stuff and booking a Sozo appointment myself was a significant step. That experience was of a kind, supportive, confidential encounter. It was very reassuring that nothing seemed too shameful or shocking to bring into the light with the Sozo leaders and I heard God’s truth replace the lies that subconsciously I’d believed.
I was invited to think about doing the Sozo Basic training held at Birmingham Vineyard back in 2015, and while the training made sense at the time, each Sozo I sat in on to pray and support took a different direction and I began to think “Help, I’ll never get the hang of this.” When another Basic Training session was offered about a year later I signed up and a few more of the concepts sank in! We were told that it’s not until you start to lead out that the Holy Spirit steps in to help and guide, but I felt a long way from being able to do that still!
Some informal training with another team meant I observed some different styles and it slowly dawned on me that I needed to find what was comfortable in setting the scene and approaching each person in a way that was more natural to me. By the end of 2016, I was due to lead alongside someone with lots of experience as a support person and who I felt would flag up if I was way off beam spiritually! So it was a case of praying, trusting and stepping out and bit by bit my confidence in God helping me ask questions and lead in the prayers grew. There were training sessions too and we practised on one another as Sozo Team members and learned from one another. I was supported and felt part of a safe, secure, supportive team.
Each Sozo appointment is very different. Each person is precious and the whole ministry seeks to honour individuals and help them encounter God themselves. It is a great privilege to watch some of the intimate experiences people have with a person of the Godhead and to see people step into freedom.
I have since had several more Sozo appointments myself which have brought freedom from childhood wounds and accumulated hurts. It’s the sort of ministry that helps you go deeper and gives you tools to help process things that are revealed in your own heart. I’ve also been really encouraged to use some of those tools as I pray for others during ministry times. If you feel a nudge to try out Sozo ministry, chat to someone on the team. Think and pray about signing up for the Basic Training and learn more about the gently Ministry that is Sozo.
Interested in being trained in Sozo prayer? Join us!
Sozo Basic Training
Birmingham Vineyard
{City Centre site}
174 Barford Street
Birmingham, B5 7EP
Friday, 13th March: 7pm - 9:30pm
Saturday, 14th March: 9:15am - 4:30pm
Booking is requested, click here to express your interest: bvc.so/events/2020/sozobasictraining